Chiara de Blasio, the 19-year-old daughter of the Mayor-elect of New York City, released a video describing her struggles with alcohol and drug dependency, as well as depression. She very honestly addresses how hard it was to seek and find help, how much it meant to have the support of her parents and to engage in therapy.
She is honest, open, and direct. Her candor will make it easier for others to seek help and to admit to their problems.
As I watched this beautiful young woman, I thought about the families who hide the problems of family members and think they will be humiliated if others find out. I also thought about my friends, how many of them have children and grandchildren who have similar problems.
I don’t know a perfect family. The challenge we all face is to deal honestly and openly with problems and to help those who need help.
This is Chiara’s Christmas gift to her peers and to adults everywhere. Face your fears, face your problems, and get help to solve them. She did it; it wasn’t easy. You can do it too.
Thank you, Chiara. Keep fighting and know that many are grateful for your courage.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thanks for all you do, Diane!
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Maybe this is why we like the deBlasios- real people, with real problems that we can relate to, and not afraid to talk about them. OK, so they’re not “perfect”- who is?
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all, My best wishes for health and happiness to everyone during the coming New Year.
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No offense, but since when is airing your dirty laundry in public an act of heroism? Her father needs to do the job he was elected to do. And so far, it’s not looking good for the reugular folks in NYC..
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The regular folks? Who are the irregular folks?
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I do not consider “truth telling” about hard problems to be “dirty laundry.”
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I’m with you on how it’s not looking good. His choice for housing is straight out of Goldman Sachs. You’re going to tell me he couldn’t find anyone else? Obama all over again. I’m very anxious to see who he’ll pick for education.
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Dear Taxpaying Truth Teller: Isn’t it better (IMO) to come clean, rather than hiding everything under the table? Just imagine what the media would have made of Chiara’s problem, if she HADN’T come clean. No one is saying she’s a hero, just that she honestly dealt with her problems. As for her Dad- let’s see what the coming year brings. After twelve years of living under a billionaire nanny dictator, it was time that we elected a Mayor that will treat us as grown-ups.
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I admire her for wanting to help others. I don’t judge those who want to keep their struggles private though…especially when the afflicted family member has not admitted they have problem. They need our compassion as much, if not more. After all, the first, and most challenging symptom of addiction is denial.
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Diane, dear mentor and fulcrum…what a year!
All those 8M ‘hits’ on this site, a coming together of like minded educators and others to fight the privatization wars, the birth of Asher, the publication of your excellent book Reign of Error, the amazing book tour and finally getting to see you in the flesh in LA, even your temporary health scare….we go upward and onward.
We are all with you and appreciate your vital role in American education.
Thank you for everything.
Ellen Lubic
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She’s a public figure, so this information probably would have come out eventually. Much better to control the story and present what happened in her own words and as a learning opportunity for others, rather than letting herself be the subject of speculation in the press. Regardless if the impetus for this may have been spin control, she’s a very brave young lady and addressing these topics directly is a great public service.
To those who celebrate, Merry Christmas! To all Ravitch readers, may you have a healthy and happy New Year!
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My guess is that with her father about to be inaugurated she did this to get out in front of the story and not so much to help others. If it does help, then great, but if it was such an important story to tell, why wait until now to tell it? Why not tell it, oh, I don’t know, before Election Day? I’m sure she is a very good person, but, let’s face it, theirs is a political family through and through.
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As the article says, the press was already circulating rumors before the election. Tabloids would have overblown any statement into a sideshow & perhaps even have affected the election. I can see only prudence, not shadiness, in waiting until after the election, then setting the record straight. After all, the issue has nothing to do with her father’s qualifications for the job.
Why is it heroic? Treating mental illness as ‘dirty laundry’ not to be ‘aired’ is precisely what brings us underdiagnosis, lack of treatment, pathetically restricted insurance coverage, & shooting sprees by untreated manics & obsessives. Decades were lost in cancer research & treatment while it remained the great unmentionable. Mental illness must come out of the shadow of stigma & take its place among common scourges for which better treatment is desperately needed. In today’s world, Ms DiBlasio risks shunning by ‘friends’ & loss of education & job opportunities by coming out publicly. She is a hero.
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I agree that it was prudent, as it likely helped elect her father (though I doubt it was the major factor). As for her being a hero, well, I suppose there is some risk, but I wouldn’t call it heroic. In addition, it’s not as if this is new; many others have come before her and done the same thing. Betty Ford comes to mind.
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How could it have helped her father get elected if she didn’t tell it before Election Day?
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I believe that if she did talk about it before Election Day it would have hurt his chances with a fickle electorate. It was certainly a bold step, but before the election it would have been a VERY risky move, throwing a spotlight where it ought not be before an election.
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Merry Christmas Diane. Get some rest. Thanks for all you do for education..
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Thanks so much. This is something
I am dealing with now with my grandchild. Thank God it’s much more out in the open today! It causes so much emotional pain!
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Regardless of the “motivation” to tell the truth… it IS the truth, and it’s a painful truth. At the time I viewed it, over 55,000 people have seen it. It takes guts to open up your life in front of the world… knowing that some people will be helped, but many others will judge you for it. I’m a very private person, and sharing “my story” is challenging in individual relationships and in “need to know” situations. I couldn’t fathom telling the nitty-gritty truth for everyone “out there” to see and judge. Heck, my principal wanted all the teachers to participate in a silly video to share w/ the kids over the break via email… I refused because I don’t put my face “out there” to be seen on the internet. It’s an individual choice, and I admire and congratulate people who are willing to be honest about their truth in such a public fashion.
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What Chiara De Blasio did was heroic and courageous. She did not air any dirty laundry, and of course, she stands to motivate many people on different levels who may have similar problems. I do not consider her behavior to be airing dirty laundry at all. It also stands to reason that she will be judged differently because she is now much more of a public figure now that her father is the mayor elect.
However, while I admire this young woman, I also see her plight as separate from and not at all equal to my needs and concerns as a voter and taxpayer. Chiara has my empathy and support, but 99% of my energy will be directed towards her father and keeping tabs on how he governs.
So far, his appointment of someone from Goldman Sachs to manage the funding of preventative educational services and the fact that “social impact” bonds, which involve profit funneled into private organizations (as in the savings supposedly realized when children don’t have to enter into special education services) is simply unacceptable. Will Bill De Blasio turn out to be another fool who campaigns one way and governs another? Will he cower to Wall Street?
There is far too much blur between public and private sector in today’s politics. We are rapidly turning into South America in that regard. How do we really know that this finance model will not incentivize the system to deprive children of needed services (correct diagnosis assuming) and then turn around and say, “We just saved the public schools $3,000, so we are taking 5% of that as our cut.” ?
Is this De Blasio’s way to supplement the hike of taxes on New York City’s wealthiest in order to pay from universal high quality pre-K, or is it THE way he is financing it?
And who he appoints as chancellor of schools and deputy chancellor of schools will REALLY tell all in the next 2 weeks.
Chiara has my sympathy and support, as I said, but I am not letting it at all color my views of how her father performs. I am hoping he does not turn out to be another false liberal-true neo-liberal.
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So true. I just don’t know anymore about candidates… saying one thing and then doing another.
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Our son and daughter-in-law are now 5 years clean and sober. They will be attending meetings to stay that way for the rest of their lives. They now have custody of their children, got married 3 1/2 years ago, and we celebrated a wonderful Christmas at their home they bought from us recently in Colorado Springs. Our son has taken over the family business and is supporting his family. Our daughter-in-law is half way through her college program to become a substance abuse counselor and has excellent grades and a bright future. Miracles still happen, and I wish all of you a very blessed New Year, full of lots of hope to claim what is yours — a fantastic new life through Christ Jesus.
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